Humanitext Reader

Ovid · The Heroines §7.64-7.130

Warnings of Storms and Dido's Hard-Won Exile

Passage 14 of 54 · Latin

Summary

Dido warns Aeneas of the dangers of departing in a storm, pointing out that if he shipwrecks, he will regret his perfidy. She also reviews her own hard-won exile and the founding of Carthage, lamenting the tragic fate that Aeneas's faithless departure brings.

§7.64Tu potius leti causa ferere mei.
You rather will be said to be the cause of my death.
§7.65Finge, age, te rapido — nullum sit in omine pondus! — §7.66Turbine deprendi; quid tibi mentis erit?
Come, imagine that you — may there be no weight in the omen! — are caught in a violent whirlwind; what will your state of mind be?
§7.67Protinus occurrent falsae periuria linguae, §7.68Et Phrygia Dido fraude coacta mori; §7.69Coniugis ante oculos deceptae stabit imago §7.70Tristis et effusis sanguinolenta comis.
Immediately the perjuries of your false tongue will occur to you, and Dido forced to die by Phrygian deceit; the sad image of your deceived wife will stand before your eyes, bloodstained with disheveled hair.
§7.71Quid tanti est ut tum 'merui! concedite!' dicas,
What is of such worth that you should then say, "I have deserved it!
§7.72Quaeque cadent, in te fulmina missa putes?
Spare me!", and think that whatever lightning bolts fall are sent against you?
§7.73Da breve saevitiae spatium pelagique tuaeque; §7.74Grande morae pretium tuta futura via est.
Grant a brief space to the cruelty of both the sea and your own; the great reward of delay is that your journey will be safe.
§7.75Haec minus ut cures, puero parcatur Iulo!
Even though you care less for these things, let the boy Iulus be spared!
§7.76Te satis est titulum mortis habere meae.
It is enough for you to have the credit of my death.
§7.77Quid puer Ascanius, quid di meruere Penates?
What did the boy Ascanius deserve, what did the household Penates?
§7.78Ignibus ereptos obruet unda deos?
Will the wave overwhelm the gods snatched from the fires?
§7.79Sed neque fers tecum, nec, quae mihi, perfide, iactas, §7.80Presserunt umeros sacra paterque tuos.
But neither do you carry them with you, nor, faithless man, did the sacred objects and your father, of which you boast to me, weigh upon your shoulders.
§7.81Omnia mentiris, neque enim tua fallere lingua §7.82Incipit a nobis, primaque plector ego.
You lie about everything, for indeed your tongue does not begin to deceive with me, nor am I the first to be punished.
§7.83Si quaeras, ubi sit formosi mater Iuli — §7.84Occidit a duro sola relicta viro!
If you should ask where the mother of beautiful Iulus is — she perished, left alone by her cruel husband!
§7.85Haec mihi narraras — sat me monuere! merentem
You had told me these things — they warned me enough!
§7.86Ure; minor culpa poena futura mea est.
Burn me, who deserve it; my future punishment will be less than my fault.
§7.87Nec mihi mens dubia est, quin te tua numina damnent.
Nor is my mind doubtful that your own gods condemn you.
§7.88Per mare, per terras septima iactat hiemps.
The seventh winter tosses you through sea and lands.
§7.89Fluctibus eiectum tuta statione recepi §7.90Vixque bene audito nomine regna dedi.
I received you, cast out by the waves, in a safe harbor, and gave you my kingdom when your name was scarcely well known.
§7.91His tamen officiis utinam contenta fuissem, §7.92Et mihi concubitus fama sepulta foret!
Would that I had been content with these services, and the rumor of our union had been buried to me!
§7.93Illa dies nocuit, qua nos declive sub antrum §7.94Caeruleus subitis conpulit imber aquis.
That day brought ruin, on which a dark storm with sudden showers drove us under a sloping cave.
§7.95Audieram vocem; nymphas ululasse putavi — §7.96Eumenides fati signa dedere mei!
I had heard a voice; I thought the nymphs had wailed — the Eumenides gave the signs of my fate!
§7.97Exige, laese pudor, poenas! violate Sychaei
Exact penalties, wounded chastity!
§7.98Ad quas, me miseram, plena pudoris eo.
And you, violated ashes of Sychaeus, to which, wretched me, I go full of shame.
§7.99Est mihi marmorea sacratus in aede Sychaeus §7.100(Oppositae frondes velleraque alba tegunt).
I have a shrine consecrated to Sychaeus in a marble temple; hanging boughs and white fleeces cover it.
§7.101Hinc ego me sensi noto quater ore citari; §7.102Ipse sono tenui dixit 'Elissa, veni!' §7.103Nulla mora est, venio, venio tibi debita coniunx; §7.104Sum tamen admissi tarda pudore mei.
From here I perceived myself to be called four times by a familiar voice; he himself said in a faint whisper, "Elissa, come!" There is no delay, I come; I come, a wife devoted to you; yet I am slow from shame of my offense.
§7.105Da veniam culpae! decepit idoneus auctor;
Grant pardon to my fault!
§7.106Invidiam noxae detrahit ille meae.
A worthy instigator deceived me; he removes the blame from my offense.
§7.107Diva parens seniorque pater, pia sarcina nati, §7.108Spem mihi mansuri rite dedere viri.
His divine mother and aged father, the dutiful burden of his son, gave me indeed the hope of a husband who would remain.
§7.109Si fuit errandum, causas habet error honestas; §7.110Adde fidem, nulla parte pigendus erit.
If I had to err, my error has honorable causes; add fidelity, and it will be in no part to be regretted.
§7.111Durat in extremum vitaeque novissima nostrae §7.112Prosequitur fati, qui fuit ante, tenor.
The course of fate, which was before, endures to the end and accompanies the very last moments of my life.
§7.113Occidit internas coniunx mactatus ad aras, §7.114Et sceleris tanti praemia frater habet; §7.115Exul agor cineresque viri patriamque relinquo, §7.116Et feror in dubias hoste sequente vias.
My husband fell, slain at the inner altars, and my brother has the rewards of so great a crime; I am driven as an exile, and I leave my husband's ashes and my country, and I am borne onto uncertain ways with an enemy pursuing.
§7.117Adplicor his oris fratrique elapsa fretoque §7.118Quod tibi donavi, perfide, litus emo.
I am brought to these shores, and having escaped both my brother and the sea, I buy the shore which I have given to you, faithless man.
§7.119Urbem constitui lateque patentia fixi §7.120Moenia finitimis invidiosa locis.
I established a city, and I set up walls spreading far and wide, which are objects of envy to neighboring lands.
§7.121Bella tument; bellis peregrina et femina temptor, §7.122Vixque rudis portas urbis et arma paro.
Wars loom; as a stranger and a woman, I am tested by wars, and with difficulty I prepare the gates of the unfinished city and weapons.
§7.123Mille procis placui, qui me coiere querentes §7.124Nescio quem thalamis praeposuisse suis.
I pleased a thousand suitors, who gathered complaining that I preferred some unknown man to their marriage chambers.
§7.125Quid dubitas vinctam Gaetulo tradere Iarbae?
Why do you hesitate to hand me over in chains to Gaetulian Iarbas?
§7.126Praebuerim sceleri bracchia nostra tuo.
I would offer my arms to your crime.
§7.127Est etiam frater, cuius manus inpia poscit §7.128Respergi nostro, sparsa cruore viri.
There is also my brother, whose impious hand, already sprinkled with my husband's blood, demands to be sprinkled with my own.
§7.129Pone deos et quae tangendo sacra profanas!
Lay down the gods and the sacred objects which you profane by touching!
§7.130Non bene caelestis inpia dextra colit.
An impious right hand does not worship the heavenly ones well.

Notes

  1. §7.65finge ... te ... deprendi — An accusative and infinitive construction acting as the object of the verb 'finge' (subject accusative: 'te', infinitive: 'deprendi').
  2. §7.71Quid tanti est ut ... dicas — The word 'tanti' is a genitive of value, leading to a consecutive 'ut' clause with the subjunctive ('dicas'). Literally, 'What is of such great value that you would say...'.
  3. §7.75puero parcatur Iulo — An impersonal passive construction with 'parcatur' (let it be spared). Since the verb 'parcere' governs the dative, the logical subject 'puero Iulo' remains in the dative case.
  4. §7.81-82neque enim ... incipit ... primaque plector ego — A correlative structure of 'neque... -que'. The tongue's deceit does not begin with Dido (alluding to Creusa), yet she is punished. 'prima' is an adjective in agreement with 'ego' used with adverbial force ('as the first victim').
  5. §7.97-98violate Sychaei / Ad quas — Following the vocative 'violate Sychaei' (violated Sychaeus), the relative pronoun 'quas' is feminine plural, referring to unexpressed but contextually implied ashes ('cineres', occasionally feminine in poetry) or shades ('umbrae').

Cite this passage

Ovid, The Heroines §7.64-7.130. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi002.humanitext-lat2:7.64-7.130

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